Tim Paine appointed as part-time coach of Australia Under-19 and A teams

Former Australia cricketer Tim Paine has been appointed as a part-time coach of the Australia Under-19 and Australia A teams. The wicketkeeper-batter's appointment came after eight months when he criticized Cricket Australia (CA) in his book 'The Price Paid: A Story of Life, Cricket, and Lessons Learned', about how he was forced out as the Australia Test skipper. 

Notably, he was asked to step down from the role following a sexting scandal that became public even after two inquiries previously cleared him. However, he later stepped down from the role in Australian and Tasmania teams.

Paine said that he was unhappy with the way Cricket Australia handled the issue, adding that under Nick Hockley's governance, these kinds of things will happen. He also said that he has made a mistake and he paid for it and it's not something personal. He added that he still has a strong relationship with Cricket Australia as well as Hockley.

“I’ve said the whole way I’m obviously disagreed with how it was handled at the time, but being in someone like Nick Hockley’s ( Cricket Australia CEO) shoes, leadership’s bloody tough, and you’ve got to make tough decisions.

“I’ve been in those places myself, so I understand it was not a personal thing. I’ve made a mistake and paid dearly for it. But my relationship with Cricket Australia and with Nick Hockley, and people that I worked with there, is still really strong," Paine was quoted as saying by The Age.

The keeper-batter went on to say that he and the board had a dispute on how an issue had been handled and they have moved on. He added that he has caught up with Hockley several times and everything is going well between them. 

“We had a disagreement on how something should have been handled, but we’re all grown adults, and we’ve moved on. I’ve caught up with Nick multiple times, I’ve been chatting to [high-performance manager] Ben Oliver. It’s all good. It’s all water under the bridge," he added.

I do see my new role as a genuine path: Paine

Paine further stated that he himself feels that the coaching role is a genuine path and he was keen to explore it. The 38-year-old added that he has been a cricketer, and captain and doesn’t want to step directly into assignments like the Big Bash or Cricket Tasmania.

“I do see it as a genuine path, but I want to make sure that when I fully commit to it, that I’m absolutely ready for and up to it. Because I’ve been a cricketer, and I’ve been an Australian captain, I don’t want to be able to step straight into jobs like the Big Bash or Cricket Tasmania or whatever, not having done a bit of an apprenticeship," Paine added.